Rooftop Refuge in the Asphalt Jungle

Container gardening aloft requires vigilant care, but the rewards are ample.

Launch Gallery

by Joan BankemperAugust 1997from issue # 10

New York City . An urban hobo camp of mineral pitch and concrete . conceive of my delectation when , in the neighborhood called Little Italy , I retrieve a 2d - floor apartment that had admittance to an adjoining roof . Along one side of the roof were six brick pillars with arches . I immediately felt the presence of some old Italian mason who must have laid up the arch years ago . Perhaps he grow grapevines on them .

The cheery roof and arch inspired me to grow a pot of St. Basil the Great . Soon I would be eating my own pesto sauce . It seemed so innocent at first , but once I set out my hands into the dirt , I could n’t stop with just one container . I had gotten the horticulture glitch . Affordable beautyIt was clean-cut I had to have a garden . As an artist , I needed the garden to be visually delightful , but I also did n’t have a mountain of money to pass . When you garden on a rooftop , you ’re not go from a groundwork of rude peach . Instead of grass and Tree and shrubs , I had a old salt roof accent with vent pipes and a huge exhaust poke bonnet , all circumvent by concrete walls . But I did have those arches .

So what do you do when you ’re on a tight budget and there is n’t an snow leopard of dirt on hand , but you want to grow all those herbs , vegetables , and efflorescence that you used to when you had a thou ? You become a mooch .

I pop by raid the local nursery ’s dumpster , where I found heap of pitch-black plastic pots and discarded grime . On the streets of the metropolis I found plenty of interesting objects that could be used as container — an old sink ; empty 5 - gallon spackle bucket ; discard lover comprehend that , lined with moss , would become hanging baskets ; and wooden wine-coloured crate . It feel good putting things to use that had been peddle as valueless dust . Spruced up and plant , my accumulation of found objective added a unique looker to my rooftop garden .

I like the idea of fix and recycling , and I often use it in my art . I thought that I could sum up some extra color and smorgasbord to my containers if I made mosaics by gluing broken shards of pottery onto the planters . This room I could get inexpensive containers that fit my aesthetic . Before I jazz it , my garden was becoming a paradise , probably the mode the quondam Italian Alfred Edward Woodley Mason would have care it . A movable feastBecause much of my garden is portable , I get to try out with different combinations of plants and ornament , as well as with the light and precondition that shift as spring moves into summertime . Another reward is that when I find a diseased or insect - ridden plant , I can isolate the patient .

Like all kitchen gardeners , I retrieve there ’s nothing better than harvesting my own salad or eating the vegetables I ’ve grown myself . sugar and salad special K are very satisfying to grow in container . Because the roof heats up much sooner than the ground , I ’m able to start my lettuces in the earliest part of the spring . As the conditions gets warmer , I move the containers to a shadier area to delay bolting . Other good early crop are chard , Allium cepa , snow peas , and strawberry mark . I also produce herbs and edible efflorescence like nasturtiums , pansies , and ‘ Lemon Gem ’ marigolds .

For Lycopersicon esculentum , I urge ‘ Rutgers ’ , with medium - size yield , or the cherry tree variety show ‘ Tiny Tim ’ . Both do well in containers . I stay on off from the big - fruited form , which call for fate of root space . I love aubergine as much for their looks as for the harvest time . They ’re easy than tomatoes to acquire in containers because the plants are n’t as big nor as thirsty . unripe bean are a standard crop for me . I turn perch dome , three to a 5 - gallon pot , trained up a bamboo teepee . And yes , I grow grapevine , although I ’ve never gotten them to flower and fruit .

Rooftop challengesThe first hurdle is approach . The logistics of getting everything I use — pots , plants , soil , benches , baseball bat — to my garden localization can be a niggling cunning . I have to negotiate a steep , minute stairway up to my door , bear the hooey from one last of my apartment to the other , and then out through a room access in my john , stepping over a 1 - ft.-high water supply roadblock .

A light , fertile grime mixing is crucial . To belittle the burden on the roof , I use a lightweight soil mixture . Even so , all those green goddess and box can get heavy . So to protect the roof from damage , I distribute the weight by putting plug-in or pieces of plywood under the containers . circuit card laid in the pathways also give me something to walk on when the tar is red-hot and squishy in the summertime .

My potting mix is a portmanteau of adequate parts top filth , peat moss , dry up cow manure , and sometimes vermiculite . I combine it all in a pliant concrete - mixing tub . In its first two years , my garden had a sparkle that I found I could n’t maintain with chemical fertiliser alone . So to regenerate the splendor , every outpouring I bounce up the old medium by dump it in my mixing tubful and adding new grime , peat , and manure .

I tried composting on my cap , but that invited rodents , and indoor worm composting kept dinner party guests busy swat flies . Now I go to the local community garden for compost , which I habituate as mulch .

urine daily and fertilize often . Remember , the precondition out there can be fierce . In the summer , a city roof can become a Jack beach , with relentless baking Dominicus , dry malarky , and no nerveless colored dirt to curb in moisture . Daily tearing is a necessary . Even on rainy days , I ca n’t just assume my plants are actually getting enough to drink , especially when their folio canopies get big . Fortunately , I have a hosepipe hookup just inside my bathroom . If you ’re thinking of startle a ceiling garden , consider your water author . If you do n’t have a hosiery spigot , your garden will be limited to what you could keep run low with a tearing can .

I prefer to irrigate in the early morning , which allow the plant leaves to dry by evening . This prevents mold and fungus from forming on the foliage . Sometimes during the warmth of summer I have to water a 2d time , in the evening . When this find , I make certain I water after the plant have cooled down some , and I ’m extra careful not to wet the foliage .

I ’m equally diligent about feed because nutrient are flushed out of the soil every clip I irrigate . I employ Osmocote , a time - release plant food , when I pot up seedlings or sow seed in the containers . Then , three or four week subsequently , I begin boost the plants with Miracle - Gro every two week . After transplanting , I use Roots , which helps heal the root and keep the jar of transplanting to a minimum .

A Garden is for sharingDespite being in the urban center , I encounter that helpful dirt ball like ladybugs and lacewings add up to natter my garden . I also get lots of birds , including hummingbird , cardinals , and mourning doves . If I notice the birds start to eat my plants , I put out fake snakes made from bent offset painted green . Every mean solar day or so I move the snakes to make them more genuine for the hoot .

I have people visitor , too . I love ensure how a garden can nourish soul as well as body . The rooftop has been the setting for some great dinner party parties . I ’ve keep an eye on staunch intellectual from the art world , surrounded by works , their faces lit by the glow of the votives hanging on the walls , bit by bit loosen and become human .

And sometimes , when I seek consolation in the garden at twenty-four hour period ’s end , I know I ’m not alone . I experience the presence of the old Italian James Neville Mason . I hope he ’s happy with how his garden look . I hope he ’s saying to himself , “ Che bel giardino ! ”

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

The New Organic Grower , 3rd Edition : A Master ’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener , 30th Anniversary Edition

Photo/Illustration: Boyd Hagen

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